A soldier who was executed by the military for the murder and rape of a five-year-old girl 15 years ago might have been wrongfully convicted, as the Taipei District Court on Friday detained a man suspected of committing the crime.
In 1996, Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), who was serving in the air force at the time, was found guilty after a month-long investigation and sentenced to death after a girl, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was found dead at an air force base in Taipei.
Chiang was charged with raping and killing Hsieh on Sept. 12, 1996, and executed on Aug. 13 the following year.
Chiang’s family and supporters have long maintained he was innocent and said the speedy trial and execution were the result of government pressure on the military to solve the case.
Chiang’s father first appealed to the Control Yuan on Sept. 15, 1996, three days after his son was accused of killing the girl.
“The Control Yuan did not conduct an investigation at the time, as the Control Yuan’s investigative authority is a ‘post-hoc power.’ It can’t look into cases prior to their final verdict,” Control Yuan ombudsman Ma Yi-kung (馬以工) said yesterday.
However, Chiang’s father continued to pursue his son’s case until the Control Yuan initiated an investigation.
In May last year, the Control Yuan censured the military court over the case, citing seven major flaws in the trial.
Prosecutor General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) in June last year announced the formation of a task force to reopen the investigation.
Investigators said they reviewed material evidence in the case, including fingerprints, a bloody palm print and DNA from a pubic hair found on the girl’s right thigh.
They compared that evidence with the prints and DNA of soldiers serving in the air force at the time.
Investigators said they discovered another air force serviceman, Hsu Jung-chou (許榮洲), whose DNA and palm print matched those left at the scene of the crime.
Taipei prosecutors on Friday arrested Hsu and the Taipei District Court approved the prosecutors’ request to detain him.
The Ministry of National Defense released a press statement saying: “The ministry respects the judicial authority’s investigation, and the ministry will reopen the case.”
“If the court finds Hsu guilty, the ministry will discipline military personnel involved in Chiang’s investigation,” the statement said.
However, the latest development didn’t reach Chiang’s father in time. He died of a stroke last year.
Chiang’s mother, Wang Tsai-lien (王彩蓮), tearfully said yesterday: “I looked at my son’s photo all night. I told him the public and supporters have helped to prove his innocence.”
“I appreciate that my son’s name has been cleared and I hope the military can conduct a new trial to acquit my son,” she said.
The Control Yuan’s report suggested Hsu committed the crime. It said that Hsu confessed to the crime against Hsieh two months before Chiang was convicted, giving a clear account of the girl’s clothing and details of the crime.
However, the ministry had Hsu undergo a psychiatric examination and concluded that he was mentally retarded, thus making his confession invalid, the report said.
Hsu was convicted of raping another six-year-old girl in May 1997 in Taichung. He served only four years in prison after his sentence was commuted. He was convicted of kidnapping and sexually abusing two more five-year-old girls in April 2003 and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was released in September last year.
The Control Yuan report said that when he was being questioned about the attack on the six-year-old girl, Hsu also confessed to the crime against Hsieh.
One of the flaws in Chiang’s trial found by the Control Yuan was that former minister of defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏), who was the commander-in-chief of the Air Force at the time, referred the case to the counterintelligence agency instead of the judiciary, violating the Code of Court Martial Procedure (軍事審判法).
The Control Yuan’s report said there are no military rules or regulations that give the counterintelligence agency jurisdiction, and that the agency extracted a confession from Chiang by illegal means.
The report suggested Chiang was imprisoned and asked leading questions in a 37-hour-long interrogation session.
Chiang wrote in notes he kept while in prison that he was threatened with an electric baton, exposed to strong lights and forced to undergo physical activities all night during questioning, the report said.
Ma yesterday said she felt regret the Control Yuan failed to investigate the case before Chiang Kuo-ching was executed.
“I would like to see the laws revised to allow Control Yuan members to look into docket cases if they involve allegations of bribes to prosecutors, judges or extorting confession by torture,” the ombudsman said.
She added that the Control Yuan could not impeach military officers who had wrongly convicted Chiang Kuo-ching because the statute of limitation for impeaching public functionaries — ie,10 years — had passed.
At a separate setting yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) reiterated his resolve to push judicial reform.
“The president thinks that although this injustice took place 15 years ago and the judiciary has changed over the years, there is still room for improvement,” Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.
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